Trust Me
by Upside-DownLemur
Summary: Middle School AU. Arthur's never really been good at making friends. He didn't like being attached to people. It's not that he really minded being alone though, until he met Alfred F. Jones.


_Bounce, bounce, bounce..._

Alfred balanced an eraser on the edge of the pencil in his mouth, then flicked it up again. He didn't know why he had come to class when there was still a few minutes before the bell. He could've dawdled in the hallway or something for a while longer if he hadn't come so early. He glanced at the clock.

_7:48 AM_

He put down his pencil and eraser with a sigh. Being a new student in the middle of the year was a pain, but he should've been used to it at this point. Having a dad in the military meant he had to move all the time, whether he liked it or not. Still...

He glanced out the window. He could practically taste the warm air coming into the classroom. It would've been nice to go out and play soccer with Feliciano and Lovino on a day like this, but they were 2,000 miles away from him now. He only got to know the brothers for three years, but that was probably the longest he'd ever stayed in one place anyway.

He switched his gaze to the door, watching people walk in laughing with their friends, and the feeling of loneliness in his chest became exponentially deeper. His eyes focused on the empty seat beside him and he sighed again, propping up his elbow and resting his chin in his palm as the bell rang.

At the very least, he could be thankful that he had joined at the start of a new semester, so the teachers wouldn't be giving him an introduction or telling the class to "please be nice" to him.

"Alright, everybody. Welcome to Family Studies. I'm Mr. Beilschmidt. Do not call me 'Mr. B.' Our first unit will be cooking. Let's go over the safety rules."

Alfred zoned out, instead deciding to scan the room to learn the faces of his new classmates. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around.

"You're new, huh? What's your name?"

"Alfred. What's your name?"

The boy gestured to himself in a high and mighty way, smiling confidently. "I'm the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt, obviously."

"Wai-, then are you-"

"Yup. That's my dad. He teaches Gym and Health too, and he's the football coach."

Alfred's eyes went wide. "Geez, that's a lot of stuff."

"Uhuh."

The blonde turned back around.

"Alright everybody, now that we've gone over all that, it's time to pick partners. Choose wisely."

Everyone instantly ran for their friends. Alfred glanced around, spotting a boy with green eyes standing alone at the first cooking station. Just as he was about to make his way over to him, he felt himself get spun around and dragged over to the side.

"Dude! What are you doing? Do you want to get yourself killed?!" Gilbert exclaimed in a mix between a shout and a whisper.

Alfred blinked, leaning forward. "What? What did I do?"

"Don't worry. I'll ask my dad if we can have a group of three. No need to rush to your death." Gilbert patted his shoulder and began to walk towards Mr. Beilschmidt.

"Wait! What do you mean?"

A girl with long, silvery hair walked past, laughing softly at his ignorance. "You must not know about the infamous Arthur Kirkland who almost burnt down the kitchen last year."

"What?"

Another student, a boy with gelled up blonde hair chimed in. "Come on, Ivana. He didn't _almost_ burn down the kitchen. He _did_ burn down the kitchen."

"Mathias, we shouldn't talk like that. It's rude and we might get in trouble." A boy with black, ear-length hair urged, holding his hands up.

"Kiku, I'm only telling the truth."

Alfred let out a breath, confused and already uninterested, and began walking towards this 'Arthur Kirkland.' Once he was standing right next to the other boy, he cleared his throat awkwardly, unsure what to say. Immediately, Arthur turned to look at him and Alfred could see the surprise in his eyes and the tears forming in them. He reached out a hand.

"Dude, are you okay?"

Arthur's face turned red with embarrassment. "Sh-Shut up! I don't need a partner! I'm alright being alone!"

"But... I need a partner," Alfred said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

Arthur crossed his arms, attempting to look like he didn't care. "Fine then, this is strictly a business partnership and nothing more."

"Uh, okay..."

* * *

Alfred stood in the middle of the cafeteria, tray in hand, looking for a place to sit when he suddenly spotted a familiar face, though it was a little hard to tell when said face was buried in a fantasy novel.

"Hey Arthur!"

The boy stopped in his tracks, looking up from his book and glancing side to side confusedly. Alfred walked up to him.

"Hey, do you want to eat together?"

The look of confusion remained on Arthur's face. "Why would you want to do that with me?"

"Um..." Alfred turned his head slightly. "I don't know. Because you're one of the only people I know at this point?"

Arthur glanced at Alfred's hand, then looked away guiltily. "How's your... erm, hand?"

Alfred looked down at the bandages wrapped around each of the fingers of his left hand and attempted a grin to make Arthur feel less embarrassed. "It's okay, dude. It didn't even hurt."

"Your scream was quite shrill at the time." Arthur reminded.

"Yeah, well... I overreacted, you know?" Alfred said, glancing away. A lie, of course.

"It certainly bled a lot."

"Uh... Yeah..."

"I'm sorry. I should've been more careful."

"It's alright. Really. My fingers do look kind of like a pumpkin."

Arthur's eyebrows furrowed. All of a sudden, he snorted and started laughing so hard his book fell out of his hand. Alfred laughed too, then grinned at Arthur.

"You know, you look a lot better when you're laughing than when you're all grumpy and stuff."

Arthur picked up his book, giving Alfred a sour look. "Shut up. And what is that abomination on your lunch tray? I hope you don't plan on eating that."

"What's wrong with hamburgers?"

"They're bloody disgusting."

* * *

Author's Note:

I have this story planned out, but I don't know if I'll keep rolling with it. There will probably be five chapters. This one was short, but the rest will be longer.


End file.
